Sunday, June 10

Red Hot

Rainy season has begun. It is my least favorite time in Japan, although...talk to me in August, and I might answer differently. After a warm week, the temperature dropped and so did the rain. All this rain throws all kinds of monkey wrenches into my shoe rotation.Rain or no, off I went to Tokyo Dome last Monday. Why you ask? Well...it wasn't for no baseball game. That's not how I roll.My girl came too. Actually...she's the reason why we went in the first place.As is our way, we arrived way too early. We quickly discovered that our seats were not all that great. It was the first time to Tokyo Dome for both of us. (FYI: it's big.) Earlier in the day, I'd had a hard time choosing what shoes to wear, thinking that it would be like an American baseball park: all sticky floors and dirty everything. Come to find out it is very clean.They even had smoking rooms, which was very nice. It was to be my first stadium rock show. I have have always been more of a club or small gig kinda guy. I don't think I will make a habit of it, but once in a while won't kill me.Eventually time passed, and the place filled up. My girl and I were just having fun crowd watching. I was feeling kinda excited, but I wasn't really sure why. I guess the energy of 40,000 people can't be denied. Then the lights when down. The crowd stood up and cheered, and off we went.The Red Hot Chili Peppers didn't waste any time. No intro, straight into their jams. After their first song, Anthony apologized for having to postpone their show for 2 months. Later in the night, Flea also said they were sorry. Nice guys.Not being the hugest RHCP fan in the world, I decided to take notes on my phone throughout the concert. This is in no way saying that I didn't enjoy the show. I like a lot of their songs. Their set included a good balance of new and old stuff, though kinda leaning more towards the newest album. Lot's of good sing-along songs. Good times. Here are some of my notes.* One person stands...we all stand. (We never did sit back down.)* If you stand ON the seat, security comes in less than 15 secs. Vigilant to say the least.* Modern technology changes everything: cellphone lights instead of lighters.* Guitar solos still rule, who knew.* Punky & funky times are happy times for this crowd. Love the synchronized cheering and jumping.* Lot's of banter between songs, but I'm not sure how much of it this crowd is understanding. Maybe they can ALL speak English?* Someone is tape recording the show in front of us. I think that is illegal, where is the security. Wait...they still make tapes?* RHCP are nothing if not professional; consistently energetic and on point.* The sound is mixed pretty well. Sometimes it is bass heavy..not a bad thing. But the melody gets lost from time to time. the space does the sound no favors.* My girl seems to be the only person not signing. That's not how she gets down.* Seriously...solos are still awesome?* The drum set had individual lights. It is a cool idea that is not being utilized.* If you thought this crowd loved only guitar solos...think again. Drum solos rule too!And then, after 2 hours of rocking out, it was over. We were back home and showered by 11pm. My girl had a great time, but was happy to get home. And after going to this, it made us want to go to more concerts. Not necessarily more rock shows, but just shows in general. Developing.

Alright...that was plenty enough about that. Let's move on. Remember the Homegrown hyperstrikes that came out 6 months ago? Well, now is your chance to pick them up. Here is a pic to remind all of you forgetful fellows.[source]

Sadly they only have limited sizes, and the price is a bit dear: $2000. Click HERE to pick them up. I will pass on these, they don't have my size. (Ha!) But I did come across another orange pair that peaked my interest.[source]

Those are the Air Max Light's. They come in some plain colorways, and then they come in these bright-ass colorways. I'm liking these. I do hope the neon yellow is a little less lime. I have yet to see these in person. But, don't you worry...I'm in the hunt.

Some great childhood memories came flooding back. (To see the other colorways and products, click HERE.) According to the site, Vans had released some special editions when the movie Rad first came out. And now they are making some retro versions available. For those of you too old, too young, or just plain missed it...here is the best scene. Keep your eye out for synchronized dance routines, parachute pants, ankle boots, that chick from Full House, endos, tailwhips, wheelies, and bunny hops. Enjoy!!

And click HERE to watch the entire movie online. It makes me miss my old Skyway. And speaking of awesome old movies. How about a clip from another of my absolute favs; Condorman.

I love this movie for all the terrible gadgets and killer cars. How can you not love those Porsches: all whale tailed and slant nosed! I does hurt to watch them get ruined though. Ok...enough of that old crap.

And finally, the best song I came across on the interwebs last week is THIS THING HERE. Click on the link and you will not only hear the track...but also find out more info. I don't really care about the details, cause whoever it is, they are bringing the electro groovy goodness. [via The Fader]

2 comments:

when nick was niko and you were mr. "whats the main thing?", and we begged dad to take us to the tiny video store in whitinsville on main street, i never got to pick a good movie because you and niko would unite in the vote, and it was ALWAYS condorman. ALWAYS.

another thing this post reminds me of is trent and daryl doing bunny hops in the dirt at the end of our driveway. good times.